Sunday, March 25, 2012

I cleaned out the fridge, wiped it down, and organized it the other night. The next morning, Talmage opens the fridge and says, "Wow mommy! You organized it! I like it." Yes! I am doing something right when Talmage can tell an organized fridge from a messy one.

I've also found his action figures lying on the couch in organized groups. I love how he gets excited when things are cleaned and organized. He notices when I rearrange things.

Also, a week or so ago, I bought some new clothes for both Talmage and Emma. While I was making dinner, he took the shirts and shorts out the bag and sorted the shirts, the shorts, and put the colors together. Then he called me over and said excitedly, "Look Mommy! I organized them!"

On Friday night, during his bath, he did this! I didn't even notice it until I went back in the bathroom to clean up the toys. What can I say...I'm so proud of my little organizer!

I decided to pull out my camera and take some random pics of the kids. I feel like I only take pictures if there's a reason or special occasion so today I took shots of an ordinary day.

I told Talmage to smile and he did a tight lip smile. Then I said, "Smile with your teeth!" And that's how the picture turned out...a fake teeth smile! Too cute!

Emma loves pictures and she also loves my phone...calling & texting!

These two pictures capture our daily life perfectly!! Talmage is an acrobat! He jumps onto and off of almost everything! He loves the couch to do big jumps and flips. In these pictures, he is flipping onto the couch from the floor. Crazy boy!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

These are really bad quality of pictures...I took them when the sun was bright and I think Talmage may have put a little fingerprint on the lens. :) Here is Talmage's room. He's had this same setup since he moved into a big boy bed at 22 months, I just haven't posted it. I love how cute it is! Oh, and he also has a Lego table and a basketball hoop in there but they aren't pictured.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Emma turned 15 months old on March 12th. If you've seen the video, a few posts back, you'll know that she is starting to walk. Her record is about 4-5 steps in a row. I love excited she gets when she stands and takes a few steps. She's always looking to make sure we are watching. Then she laughs while walking because she thinks it's so cool! I just adore her!

Emma has had quite the battle with various sicknesses so far in her short life, which is odd because I nursed her until she was 13 months old. Nothing at all serious, but still enough to make her fussy and uncomfortable. Starting with a few days old, she had a yeast infection, followed by RSV. Then she had reflux for about 8 months. Brother tipped a cart that she was in and bruised her head. She's also had the flu a few times and finally, the ear infections.

Talmage was sick with a runny nose and the flu. He then passed it on to Emma, which turned into an ear infection. This happened around September 2011. After 4 -5 antibiotics and 3 rounds of the shots, she still had an ear infection. By December, the pediatrician had exhausted all his resources. We were then sent to the ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat) doctor to have another look. They were finally able to get rid of the infection but there was still fluid in her ear. This posed a high risk of contracting yet another infection and having to go through months of more medication. As a result of the fluid, her hearing was slightly impaired and she constantly pulling on her ears, crying, and uncomfortable. Our last and final treatment was ear tubes, which were put in on February 15, 2012. We just saw the specialist and everything looks great! Absolutely no fluid or infection! Yay!

I was excited to get this ear infection journey over! Emma is not a sleeper and never has been but secretly, I was hoping that the tubes would miraculously change that. Nope it didn't but at it did miraculous cure her infections and pain, which is all that really matters!

Now being 15 months old, here are some of her habits, abilities, and interests:

*uses a sippy cup, straw and regular cup (she never used a bottle, lucky me!)

*taken her first steps (yay!!)

*sings along with music & during church with the hymns

*is always dancing to music (even with background music in a restaurant or store)

We are fortunate enough to have a huge pool and splash pad IN our neighborhood! And, our HOA is nice enough to HEAT the water! So on Friday, at the end of Talmage's spring break, we headed out to the pool. We were determined to swim, even if it was only 82 degrees. The kids LOVED the splash pad, even though I'm pretty sure the water was not heated. It was freezing! I thought Emma would be cold to play but she had a blast! I just bought new swimsuits for the spring/summer season and they look adorable! I was so excited to be able to put them in their new suits! Here are some pictures from the splash pad.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

We celebrated our 5 year anniversary a week ago. It was a Saturday, just like the day we got married. We started off our special day with Talmage's T-Ball game. Afterwards, Dad and Linda took us out to breakfast at Denny's to celebrate! We also made sure to stop by Jamba Juice, at Power and Ray. Our first date was at Jamba Juice and we also had it on our wedding day. Needless to say, Jamba Juice holds a special place in our hearts.

The night before, Jacob came home from work with a dozen red roses and one pink rose. He then said, "I'll love you 'til these flowers die." After that comment, I looked down at the roses and discovered that the pink rose was fake and, therefore, would never die. SO sweet! He also gave me a musical card that played one of our favorite love songs when we were engaged,"I Do"by Clint Black. It was the next best song, next to our wedding song, which was "You Had Me From Hello" by Kenny Chesney.

I wanted to do something different and unique this year so I bought a bunch of small gifts, wrapped them, and had him open them every hour on the 5th minute of the hour. Ex: 10:05, 11:05, 12:05, etc. He started at 10:05 and ended at 5:05. Some of the gifts were: dvds, tie, shirt, candy, etc.

Our wonderful friends and neighbor, Dan and Tiff, watched our kids that night so we could go out. We headed to our all-time favorite restaurant, Rosa's Mexican, in Mesa. Then we went shopping at Chandler Fashion Center and stopped for some ice scream on the way home. After we picked the kids up and put them to bed, we watched a movie together. It was a perfect day and perfect night to celebrate our special day and our magical marriage.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Papa and Linda came to Talmage's game and it was a blast! Talmage is improving each time he plays! He got the ball more than half the time! And he was quick to run right to first base after he hit! I'm so proud of him!

I forgot our camera for Talmage's 1st T-ball so here's his 2nd one! Talmage's team is the green team! Everyone's shirts are the same but his team has green sleeves. He improved a lot from his first game. His swing was really strong and he ran the bases a lot faster this time! In the outfield, his position was shortstop (between 2nd and 3rd base). The 1st game he played shortstop and 3rd base. Papa was able to come to his game this time and was out there in the field helping! Talmage loved having Papa there to help! He got the ball three times this game too! I think he's really starting to get the hang of the game!

Here's Talmage Valentine we made for his classmates at Preschool. We attached candy on the back.

I have the most amazing husband ever! He had to work today but I woke up to a homemade cake, birthday & Valentine's balloon bouquet, a dozen roses, chocolates, a valentine card and a handwritten poem, a gift card and spending money to shop today, awesome gifts and lunch at Firehouse Subs. Then we enjoyed a wonderful night of Olive Garden take-out, cake & ice cream and a chick flick (after the kids were in bed)! I'm so luck to have such a thoughtful husband!

He even remember our kids and bought Talmage a chocolate baseball and Emma a stuffed animal and soft rose! I didn't expect him to do so much so I also picked up a few candies for the kids. I got Jacob some Reese's' hearts, a few DVDs that he'd been wanting and a card.

We signed Talmage up for T-Ball and he has been loving it. It started the middle of February and lasts until the end of March. He has a total of 6 practices and 6 games. It's so fun to see him play and improve! Here are some pictures from his very first T-Ball practice.

Eternal Marriage

"An eternal marriage is eternal. Eternal implies continuing growth and improvement. It means that man and wife will honestly try to perfect themselves. It means that the marriage relationship is not to be frivolously discarded at the first sign of disagreement or when times get hard. It signifies that love will grow stronger with time and that it extends beyond the grave. It means that each partner will be blessed with the company of the other partner forever and that problems and differences might as well be resolved because they are not going to go away. Eternal signifies repentance, forgiveness, long-suffering, patience, hope, charity, love, and humility. All of these things are involved in anything that is eternal, and surely we must learn and practice them if we intend to claim an eternal marriage."(F. Burton Howard, "Eternal Marriage," Ensign, May 2003, 92-93)